What Lurks in The Woods
By. Jahri Bosley
When she became no longer Ignorant of the happenings in the Woods.
Nuʻuanu Pali, Oahu, Hawaii
—
Kaia massaged her temples before tossing off her blanket and rolling out of her bed. Cursing under her breath, she glanced out her bedroom window and groaned at the time of day, looking at the clock: 3:00 A.M. It's the dead hour. The sun was on the very tip of rising, and the rain was pouring heavily. Her gaze was pulled out the window again, to the row of lights that illuminated the treeline in the distance.
The lights didn't linger in her gaze because she was knowledgeable of its source, no; it was because she wasn't, so she thought it strange. The kind folk in the village, just a few ways away from her home, made it a habit to constantly remind her that coming out at the dead hour was strictly unacceptable, to the point where she never spotted a single individual around this time of day. They were quite strict when it came to rules, though she thought it was a strange rule. Kaia chalked it up to them being religious — it was the easiest conclusion anyone would come to after all. She could conclude, however, that there was more to it, there had to be more to it, after all, the last time she saw the lights at this time of the morning, her mother had disappeared from her life.
The woman who held all the love she could give to the world around her is now gone because she went out at this time of day. So, if she were questioned on whether or not she was affected by the people's fear-mongering, she was not. What scared Kaia more was the thought that she would never feel the warmth of her mother's presence ever again.
So when seeing the light, she thought to herself, It's time. She had no qualms with breaking a simple rule, even if it was recited to her vehemently, because those lights meant that they were there once more; whatever it was, she would find out the truth, and maybe even find her mother. Throwing on some thick pants, a coat, and shoving her boots on, she quickly flew through the door, not forgetting to wonder if it would be better to eat something before she left.
Leaving large boot prints in the mud from her boots, her somewhat lanky, tall, and lean figure lurched along the path leading to the woods, she couldn't help but gulp to herself while walking there, though, wondering whether or not this was a good idea. She had read a great many stories detailing horrific events happening to lonesome people wandering the woods, whether their demise came from beast, man, or even the supernatural, it remained dreadfully eerie either way. Her hesitance led to there being a strange tension in the air, one she hadn't noticed, but the man approaching her did.
"Kaia! What are you doing out here at this time of day?" A young man of large stature with ebony brown hair approached Kaia from the other path, coming from the town. He was waving his hand as he approached, donning a friendly smile.
"Oh… It's you, Kane." Turning to the man, she sighed, brushing her hair back as she did. "I spotted something strange in the forest, I wanted to check it out. Why are you out this early?"
"Why are you out this early?" Responding to her question with a question of his own, he looked around and into the forest, trying to see if he could see what she saw.
"I just told you. I saw something, so I'll continue on my way and go check it out – so leave me be." Blowing him off and turning away, she began to walk through the woods, ignoring the wind biting at her ears. Her words fell on deaf ears, as the man followed her, stepping up so they walked side by side.
Kaia clicked her tongue at the man, who started to chat her ear off, his voice smooth and enticing in an attempt to hide his hidden nervousness, which may be why he was so… well-known in the village. She threw the thought away. There was no point in even thinking about the man further. Her curiosity about the lights in the forest was far more important.
Ignoring him, she continued in silence, her eyes scanning the trees and anything that might be lurking between them. She couldn't see any sign of the lights that she had spotted earlier, but she continued to look for them anyway. As the search continued, the two traversed deeper and deeper into the forest, thoughts swirling in her head. What were those lights? Were there more people out here? Maybe I was just seeing things?
Deciding to finally acknowledge Kane's presence, she turned to him and spoke up, "Kane, do you know if anyone else has been out this morning? I saw lights, so I was curious." Pausing on her words, she raised a question for him, needing assurance for what she saw.
"Well, not that I know of. The others don't usually like leaving at this hour, as you know. But… Oh, yes, a few people have gone missing in the past few days. Though I've been told that they had moved to a more populated town, it is strange."
Kaia seethed at his answer, "Another town, is it? Is that the explanation they gave you when my mother disappeared?!" Taking a breath, she quickly calmed herself. "My mother would never leave without telling me, I'm sure some of the other missing people wouldn't either. No, there is something else going on." With a pause, she turned back to the forest and mumbled, "There has to be..."
Kane watched her profile, the ever-present smile on his face straightening out. He scratched the back of his head, "Look, I'm sorry. Didn't mean to upset you, I'm not sure about everything happening with these disappearances, especially with your mother. I only know what I'm told and what I've heard." He paused, "Listen—whatever is happening is not natural, I know that for sure." The smile stretched his lips once more, though noticeably smaller.
Kaia closed her eyes, releasing another breath while rubbing the bridge of her nose. She had heard whispers of the supernatural, but she was struggling to even attempt believing it in any sense. "Right, thank you. That's good enough–" Grumbling under her breath, Crack! Kaia paused. She clicked her tongue and looked around her in surprise. Following her lead, Kane also froze and went silent.
"What is it? Why'd you stop?" Curious and confused, he looked at her only to be met with Kaia holding a finger over her mouth, hushing him to be silent.
The two were quiet, their ears listening to their surroundings as they stood still as stone. The forest had grown silent, eerily silent, where birds chirped and animals moved; there was only silence, a silence that befell the two, causing them to sweat.
Lurching forward, Kaia crouched behind the nearest tree, signaling to Kane to do the same. Peeking from behind the tree, she nearly choked on her saliva as she quickly turned away, covering her mouth to silence her yelp. Further into the forest, there was a procession of shadowy figures.
They marched through the forest, Crack! Crack! Breaking sticks and branches that had fallen onto the ground. Hearing the cracking of sticks, Kane went to peek past the tree as well, only to be pulled back by Kaia, falling on his rear end. She had pulled him back to stop him from stirring the bees' nest in the distance, but her movements did so in the end.
The sound of marching stopped, and a sinister feeling hung in the air; the marching began once more, but this time it was coming in their direction. Placing her hand on her chest, she stopped herself from hyperventilating as she recalled a story her mother often recited before putting her to bed, one containing similar occurrences to these shadowy figures, a legend that contained the hint of a possible death.
She steadied herself, this was no time to be scared. "Be quiet, shut your eyes, and lie down." Speaking in a hushed tone, she went prone and closed her eyes, ignoring the look of confusion on his face, worrying about herself first.
"...Right," He muttered before doing as she said, after all, he too, could feel the tension in the air, and she seemed to know more than he did.
With the two lying prone in the mud, the ever-present and loud marching got closer, so close that it started to give the two headaches. Lying with bated breaths, the two had sweat rolling down their faces, plagued by nervousness, holding onto their breaths like their lives depended on it. The marching had been like the beat of drums, soldiers going to war as their steps sang a tune of death and destruction, their brightly lit torches illuminating their march, frightening the two further; there was no peace to be brought from hearing their march. It was something that the two of them began to understand as they did their best to hold themselves together.
The marching was right on top of them, Kaia's breath hitched, feeling the nudge of one of the marchers as they passed by her. She was at the edge of flinching from shock, but she held still, keeping her breathing as steady as possible, fearing what could happen if she were to move even an inch from where she lay.
They had been like this for more than ten minutes before they were left to resume their normal breathing, the marching going into the deep distance.
Sighing in relief, Kaia looked to the ground to their side as an army of footprints rested there, "What was that?" Kane questioned, in exasperation, his fear visible in the goosebumps across his arms..
"I… I don't know." Not wanting to look back and risk seeing the procession, Kaia was struggling to stop the shaking of her hands, shutting her eyes at the thought of what could have happened to her, to them.
Before she could think further, her face cringed as a putrid smell infiltrated her nose. Kane patted a hand on her shoulder before silently tugging on her coat, causing her to look past the tree once more, in the path of where the marching had gone through, she spotted a mass of flies fluttering above what could only be bloody remnants of clothes.
Tightening her fists, forcefully calming her shaking, she approached the remnants, shaking her head at the sight, they weren't who she was looking for. Although she glanced over the remains, Kane audibly gasped at the sight. "This watch, I remember it, it's—" he gagged, covering his mouth and nose while turning away from the sight and smell.
Kaia ignored his reaction; if she saw him throw up, she probably would do the same. turning around to where the procession marched, she spoke under her breath, "The supernatural…" Turning back, she watched the ground and followed the footsteps to where the marchers had come from. There were no lights ahead of her, and silence continued to hang in the air; perhaps the danger had passed for now.
Before long, she came across a large cut through the earth separating her from the other side. Turning to her side, she watched an out-of-breath Kane jog up to her. Finally catching up to her. "It looks like the footprints continue on the other side." She pointed.
"Ok?" He breathed out.
"I'm going to jump it." Stretching out her legs, she took some distance away from the crevice, hyping herself up.
"Just wait a moment—"
Not letting him finish, she sprinted. Just as her toe touched the edge of the earth, she leaped across, tumbling on the other side, scratching and cutting her skin as she rolled across the forest floor before lying on her back. Hissing at the pain, she stood to look at Kane, "Follow me, or don't. I don't care." Brushing off her clothes, she didn't bother looking at the expression that flashed across the man's face.
After covering a bit of distance, the footprints began to disappear, before becoming completely non-existent at the entrance of a cave, a cave that shook her to the very core. At the cave's mouth lay her mother's torn headscarf. Not even hesitating a second, she sprinted with her very soul, entering the darkness of the cave, tumbling down a hill of stone to be placed into a small open space in the cave, light entering from an opening overhead.
Kai, however, paid no attention to her surroundings at all, her gaze was glued to the sight before her, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"No." Her voice shook in denial. She considered what she could see, what she could learn, the truth that escaped her for weeks, but this isn't what she wanted. Not at all. "No!" She cried out once more with her dist slamming into stone. The pain wasn't there, she couldn't tell, nor care that she was bleeding.
Her love. Her happiness. Her soul was gone.